This invention relates to a polymerization or reactor vessel or tank structure for use in a suspension polymerization process for the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride or vinyl chloride.
In the polymerization process there is an excessive heat build up due to the reaction process and it is necessary to remove such heat to control the speed of reaction process. As larger closed apparatus or vessels are used to more economically manufacture the end product it has become necessary to use thicker walls to provide the necessary strength to withstand the increase in pressure. However with this increase in size of vessel and wall thickness there is also a substantial increase in the need to more efficiently remove the heat to properly control the reaction process.
The prior art provision of removing heat in the form of cooling tubs within the reactor vessel is unsatisfactory because of the difficulty of cleaning the interior walls of the vessel and the exterior walls of the cooling tubs due to polymer adhesion thereto and the resulting build-up or accumlation thereon. The provision of external cooling jacket encompasssing the reactor vessel has presented the problem of not providing sufficient cooling capacity because of the thickness of the vessel wall prevents efficient cooling. The instant invention provides an internal cooling jacket with a thin innermost wall with a novel, economic and unique means of securing such inner wall to the reactor's outer thick wall presenting a smooth continuous inner wall surface assuring efficient cooling which inhibits the unsatisfactory build-up of polymer adhesion and accumulation on the inner vessel wall to thereby allow the building of larger reactor vessels.